Blizzard Shuts Down Northeast US, but Virtual Call Centers Deliver Uninterrupted Service
Last month several harsh winter storms brought heavy snowfall to the Eastern United States. With record-setting levels of snow, it took a toll on the country as transportation was brought to an almost complete halt.
Like so many other businesses, brick-and-mortar (B&M) call centers in the region were shut down for days, forcing customers to scramble to find other ways to service customer needs. In contrast, however, companies that outsourced their customer service to virtual contact centers viewed the storm as simply a minor inconvenience. They were able to seamlessly redistribute call loads to experienced agents across the country, providing uninterrupted coverage and seamless service to their callers. This period of blizzard-like weather dramatically illustrates how the at-home call center model provides business continuity during situations that cripple most other business models.
Snowstorm Wreaks Havoc on the US
Only halfway through the winter and already Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore have received their snowiest winters in history. On February 5, two storm systems began dumping heavy snow from Illinois eastward. Just two weeks later, another storm front swept through the Northeast. By the time the month was over, many Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states had received record levels of snowfall in excess of three feet. While area residents had to deal with the actual snow, the winter weather had far reaching consequences:
--Nearly 6,000 flights in airports between Washington and New York were cancelled at the height of the second storm, making it one of the biggest air travel disruptions since the September 11, 2001 attacks (USA Today, 2/11/2010)
--700,000 electrical customers lost power due to the snow and high winds in the Northeast (Bloomberg (News - Alert) News, 2/26/2010)
--Major highways, railways, schools and public transit systems were closed throughout the region
--The U.S. federal government shut down for four days at an estimated cost of $100 million a day in lost productivity (National Public Radio, 2/10/2010)
Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, estimated that the storm cost firms hundreds of millions in potential sales.
Storm Forces B&M Call Centers to Close Down
The call center industry was impacted by these storms in the same way as many businesses in the affected areas. Employees were simply unable to get to work, which means phones went unanswered and customers went without help. For a typical 100 seat center, a full day of lost productivity can cost over $30,000 a day in operational costs such as labor, rent, and utilities. After accounting for the value of missed calls, long hold times, frustrated callers, and lost sales, the daily cost can reach well over $500,000. According to recent market research, there are over 13,300 call centers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. employing over 800,000 employees. Using a conservative estimate that 10 percent of these centers were negatively affected by these storms, the total economic impact on the regional B&M call center industry likely exceeded $1 billion.
Virtual Call Centers Unaffected by Storm
When a call center closes, even for a short time, customers from unaffected areas of the country still need help. These callers are frustrated when they encounter unanticipated busy signals or long hold times. The ability to provide uninterrupted service even during a natural disaster like a blizzard is a quantifiable, money-saving advantage of the virtual call center model. The three client case studies below demonstrate how having an established partnership with a virtual call center allows corporations to deliver outstanding service even when B&M centers are forced to close.
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At 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11, one of the nation's largest wireless carriers faced the closure of several of its East Coast centers and requested overtime support from its virtual call center partner for the upcoming weekend. The snowstorm had kept employees from reaching the B&M centers and the client was understaffed to support the anticipated volume of calls. With less than 48 hours notice, the client’s virtual call center staffed 301 additional, previously unscheduled Saturday shifts, including 80 bilingual shifts. The next day, it again staffed an additional 180 shifts above those originally scheduled. To the thousands of callers that weekend who spoke with an at-home agent, service was uninterrupted and the client’s brand reputation was maintained.
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When its in-house B&M call center in Philadelphia closed on Feb. 10, a publicly-traded health and wellness company called its outsourced virtual call center for help. The virtual center immediately began handling 99 percent of customer service calls as well other types of calls normally answered by the internal center. This extra support continued throughout the next day until internal staffing levels were back to normal. By providing skilled sales agents when the client needed them most, the virtual call center delivered uninterrupted service to callers, preserving over $50,000 per day in revenue for the client.
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On Feb. 4, the call center director for a leading roadside assistance organization received an email about the pending storm. Knowing that the company’s B&M center was directly in the storm’s path, the director called his at-home partner. The virtual call center was able to instantly tap into an available pool of experienced agents and increased staffing for the following 12 days. Although the client’s call center remained operational during the storm, internal staffing was drastically reduced due to the weather. Fortunately, the virtual call center staff was there to pick up the shortfall and handled 30-40 percent more call volume than originally anticipated.
With a consistent availability of experienced staff and an advanced technology infrastructure, at-home customer contact centers can respond to immediate needs without sacrificing quality. At a high-level, they do this by first maintaining a large, dispersed workforce of trained and experienced agents. When necessary, calls can be routed to agents in thousands of US cities. Second, the home-based nature of the model eliminates the need to travel to another location to begin work. Trained agents simply pick up their headsets, securely log-on to their computers and begin receiving calls from across the country. Finally, any reputable virtual center has state-of-the-art hardened and secure data centers in multiple locations. Connectivity to these centers is also redundant with multiple voice and data carriers covering different areas of the country.
Perhaps your call center has remained unscathed from severe weather or other service-impacting events. If so, that’s great – for now. If not, then you know how important it is to fortify your business processes with a way to rapidly respond to unforeseen happenings. Luckily, the companies mentioned above were proactive and had established relationships with a virtual center, which they were able to lean on when B&M centers left customer calls unanswered. You can do the same. Make a plan now before the next storm hits so that when your employees get stranded, your customers won’t.
Rob Duncan is Chief Operating Officer of Alpine Access, Inc. a nation-wide provider of call center services using home-based customer service and sales employees. Alpine Access clients include Fortune 100 companies in a wide variety of industries.
Rob Duncan is COO of Alpine Access, Inc., a Denver, Colorado-based provider of contact center services using exclusively home-based customer service and sales employees.Duncan can be reached at 303-279-0585.Edited by Patrick Barnard